Insights

<p>It's common knowledge that newspapers and other news outlets have hemorrhaged jobs. Since 2007, about 30,000 jobs have been lost in the newspaper industry alone.&nbsp;</p><p>Certainly there are good examples of highly competitive journalism jobs that offer decent salaries for trained, and experienced journalists. Although I have not researched the number of such listings, an anecdotal survey of colleagues, and my own browsing of job sites suggest there are fewer listings of jobs, and freelance opportunities that offer livable wages or decent rates.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Anaheim obstetrician accused in a patient’s death was part of a community of doctors on the fringe who had escaped the stigma of their pasts by treating immigrants.</p> <p>Dr. Andrew Rutland was charged by the Medical Board of California in December of negligence after the death of a Chinese immigrant, Ying Chen, at a San Gabriel clinic. Rutland had been trying to give her an abortion, the board said, when he administered a fatal dose of lidocaine, an anesthetic.</p>

<p>The new <a href="http://www.healthycity.org/">Healthy City Web site</a>, launched this week, is designed for community activists, but it’s an intriguing data source for California reporters nonetheless, particularly if you’re interested in covering the connections between your health and where you live. Social services beat reporters (are there any of those left?) will find it useful, too.</p>

<p><!--StartFragment--></p><p class="MsoNormal">A conference on health disparities for an audience of journalists is bound to produce lots of story ideas, and the one under way in Washington, organized by the National Association of Black Journalists, is no exception.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Here are some ideas for stories that have emerged from two days (so far) of discussions:</p>

<p>If you watch cable, it may have been hard to miss that this week was <a href="http://health.discovery.com/tv/baby-week/baby-week.html">Discovery Health channel's "Baby Week".</a>&nbsp; Like "Shark Week" on Discovery proper or "Croc Week" on Animal Planet, these programming spectacles are highly promoted and attract advertisers and eyeballs alike.&nbsp; As the writer of a blog on postpartum depression, my antennae went up when I heard one of the "Baby Week" specials would focus on postpartum depression.&nbsp; I knew a lot of moms would be watching, and wanted to make sure I&nbsp;tuned in to

<p>Scott Broussard is a battalion chief with the Costa Mesa Fire Department. He’s used to knocking down doors when there is an emergency and trying to stay steady in the midst of chaos. Kathy Broussard is a pediatric intensive care nurse who has seen children die and children saved from the brink of death. She is now focused on raising her two children.</p>

<p><!--StartFragment--></p><p>In the middle of the week that is likely to determine the outcome for President Obama’s health reform effort, <a href="http://hhs.gov/">HHS</a&gt; Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took time out from the fray on Thursday to talk to journalists about health disparities.</p>

<p>The doctor did it. In the bedroom. With an an anesthetic.</p> <p>The Los Angeles County Coroner spent 51 pages of minute calculations and detailed examinations to come to that simple conclusion on Aug. 24, 2009. Jackson had died from a lethal dose of propofol and other drugs and the <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/michael-jackson-3.html">d… was a homicide</a>.</p> <p>This was perhaps the most surprising thing about the Michael Jackson case, because coroners are so reluctant to say a physician killed someone.</p>

<p>The readers of the <em>Lancaster (Penn.) New Era</em> had ample reason to be doubtful of the new doctor who had come to town being touted as “<a href="http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-9165959.html">the infant whisperer</a>.”</p> <p>The New Era wrote a classic, glowing profile, quoting patients who said Dr. Saroj K. Parida, chief of neonatology at Lancaster Regional Medical Center, had saved their children’s lives. And perhaps he had.</p>